Choking

[hoofreak7]

I'm asking for help to prevent something:
today we had the first round of our high school conference tournament, it was raining all round but i was playing awesome. I made a 30 ft putt from the fringe on nine to shoot an even par 36 and the front and carried that over by parring 10-14. on the 14th hole the rain really picked up and my grips became wet, as i bogeyed 15 and 16. I stepped up to the tee on 17, reachable par 5, feeling fine. I figured even if i bogeyed out 76 wouldnt be the worst thing in these conditions. Then....i started thinking. I wanted to get back to even, put myself in a good postion to become All Prep (top ten golfers in a super competative league.....at least 4 already know that theyre playing D1 golf in college....3 on scholarship) and break my best score of 74. I hooked my drive, pushed my 3 wood, lost grip of my club on my third, causing the ball to go backwards, hit the next one in the trap, awful lie, stays in trap, more awful lie, stays in trap, skull, made 12 footer for a 9, yes a NINE
it was like being punched in the face......i tried to find SOME momentum off of the putt i made and i was telling myself that i could still bogey and break 80. Pushed 3 wood off the tee, bounces twice on cart path into a hazard. Drop. hit the wrong club. bunker. chunk. 3 putt for a 7.......9-7 finish.... 2 over through 16, 7 over on the last two......our team was a combined 9 over (2nd place, 9 shots back of first)....9 over=the 81 i shot....if i had just finished bogey bogey, we would only be 4 back, now we have to make up 5 shots


2nd and final round is on thursday at a different course, i need to shoot mid to low 70's, im pretty sure im gonna be in a similar situation coming into the last couple of holes, How do i block what happened today out of my mind for thursday?

[glbrum]

Well, I've been there before! About 10 years ago in junior high I was in a tournament I managed an 11 on a par 5. It wasn't under the same circumstances as you, but still, those scores can kill.

I hear the pros talk about it all the time: "take it one shot at a time"! it's hard to do in those type of situations, but you HAVE TO stay in the moment. You can't worry about what the other guys are doing and you can't worry about the back nine when you are on #5. The biggest killer, as you experienced, and I've been there several times, is saying, "if I just do this on these holes I'll shoot XX score". Don't do it. Stop your train of thought when you start thinking like that and just hit your shots. Take it one shot at a time. Good luck!

[saltman]

I have choked a number of times and won a number of times. The one thing I can say is that when you start thinking of your score and not the shot in front of you its very very easy. I like the competitiveness you show by thinking get it back to even. That's fine in my opinion, but as the round wears on, take an extra few seconds before you approach the ball.

Make sure the only thing in your head is the shot, think of the perfect shot shape. Visualize it, hit it, rinse and repeat. You'll be just fine, once you breakthrough once.

Choking for me was part of a swing flaw as well. I had way too much hands in my swing, especially from 100 yards in. You want to build a swing that holds up well under pressure. Mine didn't and as I got nervous and tight, things went haywire fast.

[tjy355]

I know it is a big cliche, but it's how you have to train yourself to think. "One shot at a time." Don't think about the last shot. Don't think about the next shot. Don't think about your score. Don't think about what might happen. Easier said than done, of course.

[cougar978]

I'm asking for help to prevent something:

I had the same thing happen in a high school tournament (even though this was 13 yrs ago) - was trying to get my 3rd leg to qualify for state early in the season to take the pressure off - I had just eagled 17 to get back to +3, and you needed +7 or better on that course to earn a leg. I thought I had it sewn up and wanted to play safe, swing real easy, etc. Took a 2-iron off 18 (430 yd par 4 with water all down the left side), hooked it in the drink. Had about a 200 yd carry over the water to the green, chunky monkey, splash. Hitting 5, drilled a 5-iron on the green and 3-putted for an 8. Still shot 79 and got my last leg, albeit I took a lot of sh*t from my coach for dunking two in the lake and costing us a team leg. My best advice to you is, decide what you're going to do, make a full swing, and DON'T THINK about anything but executing the swing - even if your club selection is incorrect or you miss the ball a little, chances are you'll be close enough to your target to recover. If you have an extra club into the green because you're safe off the tee, then so be it. Just don't start trying to force shots, because that's when things can get nasty...

[Parker0065]

First thing I'm gonna say to you kid is don't be too hard on yourself! Any of us that have played competitive golf, be it juniors, college or pro has made these kind of mistakes. Hang your hat on the fact you made it through 16 holes in extremely tough conditions at 2 over par.

I can't stress enough about staying positive and staying in the moment focusing on one shot at a time. My 11 year old son is starting his second season of Junior Tour Golf this summer and right now the biggest thing I'm working with him on is staying positive and excepting the fact that in golf there are things that you can't control but the one thing you can control is how "you react" to adverse conditions, bad breaks, bad swings, score...ect. You have the power to control whether you let these things effect your emotions.

One thing that can help you in finishing off a round is developing a "Iron Clad Pre-Shot Routine" Pro players go through these routines like thier "Ancient Tribal Rituals" because it keeps them focused and in the moment to execute the shot under pressure.

Your obviously a good player so go out there, think positive, stick to your routine and I know you'll play great!

Good luck Bud!!

[Slim 11]

You are obviously a much better golfer than I am, but i'll throw my 2 cents in.

You are always asking for trouble when you start thinking about score, whether it's your overall score or the score for a particular hole. My game suffers from teh occasional blow up hole. These almost always occur when I start thinking of what I can do on that hole. It doesn't matter if I get off the tee bad and start thinking about how I need to nut the next shot for a recovery to make par or salvage the hole or if I get off well and start thinking how I can stick it close for birdie. As soon as I start focusing on the score I stop concentrating on the basics of swinging and making good contact and "BOOM!"

Almost all replies have been the same. Focus on one shot at a time and the rest will take care of itself.